Just read Mamet’s unqualified (in the sense of phrased-as-universally-applicable) statements as being about his particular corner of the acting world. He likes

Just read Mamet’s unqualified (in the sense of phrased-as-universally-applicable) statements as being about his particular corner of the acting world. He likes to overstate his case, but there’s room in the world for more than one kind of good production. McKellen and Mamet are like, say, Picasso and Monet. We can all agree that Three Musicians is brilliant without seeing it as a proof by example that Monet’s ideas about painting were wrong. Edit: while I’m here, I second the recommendation of McKellen’s Richard III.